Sunday, April 26, 2015

WINNERS OF THE 2015 BIODIVERSITY GALA- OTTAWA, CANADA

Here are some photos of last weeks Biodiversity Gala in Ottawa. Winners were picked by youth from different local schools.

Governmental Support Award:
Elizabeth May

Elizabeth Evans May OC MP is an
American-born Canadian environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and
politician currently serving as leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member
of Parliament for Saanich—Gulf Islands. Image of Deborah Coyne, Senior Policy Advisory for the Green Party of Canada

Canadian
adventurer, environmentalist and educator Geoff Green has been leading
expeditions and adventures from pole to pole for the past twenty years. Many
notable organizations such as the Discovery Channel, World Wildlife Fund,
National Audubon Society and the Smithsonian Institution enlist Geoff to lead
their groups into the world's most remote and interesting regions.

Local Youth Award for Biodiversity
and Conservation- Jessica Walsh Moreau

Winner of the Ottawa Leading Girls
Building Community Award, Jessica
has been involved in the Macoun Marsh Biodiversity Project since its
beginning. She was also a leader in the 2009 International Youth
Symposium for Biodiversity and in the formation of the International Youth
Accord for Biodiversity that she co-presented in Nagoya, Japan for
COP10.

The St-Laurent Academy Biodiversity Award- Allan Leveille, Evan Mulcahy
(St-Laurent Academy Youth and Biodiversity Mentors)Allan
and Evan represent some of the youngest of our original Biodiversity Youth
Mentors. They are very enthusiastic and
proud to assist for tours at our local Macoun Marsh.

Lemuel
Manases Mena Vega is a native of Cozumel and one of the founding members of the
Park and Museum Foundation, which is dedicated to the conservation and
maintenance of ecological parks and habitat in Cozumel. Lemuel has been most
active in a project conserving and monitoring sea turtles and has presented at
several international conferences, including the Second International Youth
Forum in Canada in 2009. His long-term goal is to establish an environmental
education business in Cozumel to get the native population active in
conservation efforts.

International Youth Award for Biodiversity and Conservation- Christian
Schwarzer (Germany)

Christian Schwarzer is a young German law
student and a founder and member of the first
Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN)’ Steering Committee. The Global Youth
Biodiversity Network provides aunique global
platform where youth organizations and individuals can get in touch with each
other and join forces for the protection of biodiversity. He has been to 21 rounds of
UN-negotiations. Among them 6 COP
meetings (2 UNFCCC and 4 CBD) as well as 15 subsidiary body and ad-hoc working
group meetings of the UNFCCC and the CBD.